Trump: A modern awakening preacher?

A few weeks ago, I watched Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s series "The Black Church."  As with everything Gates creates, he stimulated my thinking about his subject matter.  The challenges the black churches and black community faced in the past and today, their travails and triumphs in American history, and their transformations accompanying changes in society were clearly described and made vivid in his series.  What I wasn't expecting was a realization while watching it was that Trump is more of a preacher than a politician.

STEVE!  What does he have to do with the Black Church?  The man is a charlatan!  He is about as religious as a cat turd in my litter box!

Well, let me explain.  Gates described how many black American churchgoers in the late twentieth century and early twentieth century have drifted away from traditional denominations to non-affiliated megachurches just as other Americans have left main line churches.  Images of the exteriors and interiors of megachurches reminded me not of temples of worship but of sports and concert arenas, as some seat over 10,000 worshipers.  They don't have the intrinsic religious atmosphere of a traditional church, so they are dependent upon the preacher to make them places of worship.

Preaching in non-church spaces has a long tradition in the US.  Depending on which historian you listen to, the US has experienced three to five waves of evangelical growth, usually called Great Awakenings, over the last 300 years.  The awakenings rose in times of change and uncertainty.  In the past the principal means of preaching was in tent meetings and other gatherings outside of established church spaces.  The first Awakening was in the early decades of the 18th century when religiously homogeneous colonial communities starting to interact with each other.  People, exposed to other communities, questioned the faiths they were accustomed to and were curious about other approaches to faith.  The second was in the early decades of the 19th century when people were dealing with the challenges of building a new nation as well as incorporating the first major waves of immigration from European nations other than England and Scotland.  The new immigrants brought Catholic (Irish) and Lutheran (German and Scandinavian) faith traditions which were quite different from the prevalent Protestant traditions.  

The third was at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, when the US population was shifting from being predominantly rural to being predominantly urban.  The economy was also transitioning from a mainly agricultural economy to an industrial economy.  And the country was incorporating large numbers of immigrants from southern and eastern Europe, with Catholic, Orthodox, and Jewish faith traditions markedly different from the predominant Protestant traditions present.   The fourth was in the late twentieth century, in the midst of cultural changes and uncertainty stimulated by the cold war and associated conflicts as well as the assertion of rights by those previously denied their rights (people of color and women of all races).  The tent meeting of previous Awakenings was supplanted by radio and television broadcasts.

Preachers of the Great Awakenings had some things in common: a conviction that traditional churches had drifted away from God's truth, a dismal view of contemporary society perceived to be in decline, a rather simple message or formula for faith rather than an elaborate catechism, and an apparent certainty that their message was the only truth.  How does Trump display any similarity to these preachers?  Much as during America's other awakenings, the US is in the midst of cultural and economic changes that challenge people's perceptions and expectations of the present and future.  In his arena rallies, he describes the politicians of both parties as liars or worse, proclaims America to be in the midst of decline and carnage, and claims there is only one solution to the nation's problems.  Previous American preachers proclaimed people had only one choice to better their lives: faith in Jesus Christ.  Trump's message is the only choice for people to better their lives is through faith in Donald Trump.  A preacher's product is usually a congregation of believers.  Trump's product is a cult of followers.

No politician can claim the adoration and unquestioning trust that Trump has.   Any American politician would have crashed and disappeared if they had made many of his statements because people quickly abandon politicians who stray from established norms: people rarely abandon their faiths.  While politicians hold rallies to generate support for their agendas, Trump holds rallies as preachers hold services. Some Trump rally attendees describe the events as being like rock concerts, except the rallies are free.  Some attend rally after rally like pilgrims.  Capitol Police officers were shocked at the intensity of the Capitol attackers, saying some appeared to be on some sort of drug.  But Capitol Police officers were used to confronting protestors, not religious zealots.

The US is different from most nations in that it doesn't have a predominant religion rooted in its culture.  In England, a religious person is historically likely to be Anglican.  In France, Catholic.  In Greece, Orthodox.  In Iran, Shiite Muslim.  In Japan, Shinto.  In Scandinavia, Lutheran.  In Saudi Arabia, Sunni Muslim.  The US doesn't have one embedded faith tradition.  Instead, the US has essentially a marketplace of religious faiths, where one can shop for and find a religion that fits one's needs and desires (A little side note:  Today, the most revered amendments among the Bill of Rights address matters in which one can make money:  from freedom of the press and speech come our press and media empires, from freedom of religion come our assortment of religious organizations of varying religious intensity and profitability, and from the right to bear arms comes our well protected gun businesses.  Nobody makes money from a speedy trial.).  

The congregations of traditional faiths have always suffered from a drain of the faithful by what are essentially religious entrepreneurs who establish a new faith tradition or create their own individual church brand, whether it be a small urban storefront church, a Sunday rental of a movie theater, or a custom-made suburban megachurch.  And even though such congregations typically have charismatic leaders, the members share a belief in a higher power apart from their leaders.  Trump's followers share a belief in Trump.  As Trump is a serial entrepreneur, it is not surprising that he has become a preacher, as he found he could make money from it.  From MAGA merchandising to Stop the Steal fundraising, Trump has made more money during his 5 years in politics than most politicians have made their whole careers.

It's pointless to ask how Trump can maintain his support even in midst of infamy, as it's not a matter of politics:  it's a matter of faith.  A politician would hide in spin or shame after many of his actions, including inciting the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.  Did the Catholic Church close the church doors in the midst of the priest molestation scandals?  Do televangelists go off the air over allegations of excessive greed?  Have cults folded after revelations of corruption?  People adhere to their faith, even if it's a cult, with more resolve than they hold onto their political allegiance, and Trump is now the face of many Americans' religious faith.